What to do if…
your student loan automatic payment fails because your bank details are incorrect or outdated

What to do now

1. Confirm which loan and servicer are involved.

   • For federal student loans, log in to StudentAid.gov and confirm your current servicer before using the servicer’s official portal or app.
   • For private student loans, use your lender or servicer’s official portal and your most recent statement to confirm the correct payment site.

2. Check the exact status of the failed autopay draft.

   • In the servicer portal, look at the payment history and the most recent draft status.
   • Check whether it says failed, returned, rejected, pending, processing, or scheduled.
   • Save a screenshot, payment-history download, confirmation email, or message from the portal.

3. If the due date is close, or the payment is clearly failed, make one manual payment.

   • Pay only through the official servicer portal or another verified servicer payment route.
   • Use an available payment method shown by the servicer.
   • Save the confirmation number, amount, date, and time.

4. Fix the stored bank details inside the servicer portal.

   • Retype the routing number and account number carefully.
   • Confirm checking or savings if the portal asks.
   • Remove any old bank account if the portal allows it, so future drafts do not keep going to the wrong account.
   • If autopay was switched off, re-enroll only after the new details are correct, then save the next draft date and amount shown in the portal.

5. Call your bank if the rejection reason is unclear.

   • Ask whether the account is closed, frozen, restricted, blocked for ACH debits, or listed with details that do not match the servicer’s debit request.
   • Ask whether any returned-payment or overdraft fee was applied.
   • If a wrong automatic debit is still scheduled, ask about stopping that specific preauthorized transfer. Federal Regulation E generally allows a stop-payment request to your bank at least three business days before the scheduled transfer, but ask the bank what it needs from you and save proof of the request.

6. Ask the servicer to confirm your account status in writing.

   • Ask whether the account is current, what the next due date and amount are, and whether autopay is active.
   • Ask whether any returned-payment fee or late charge was applied, and whether it can be reviewed or waived.
   • If the servicer says the failed payment caused a negative report or delinquency marker, ask them to review the account and explain what record they are using.

7. Escalate only if the account is not corrected or the records do not match.

   • For federal student loans, submit a case through Federal Student Aid’s feedback route and attach your payment proof, bank information, and servicer messages.
   • For private student loans, federal student loan servicing problems, or bank-account problems, you can submit a CFPB complaint with the same documentation.